ARCHITECT SELECTED FOR SCHOOLS PROJECT

PHIL LEMOS; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

The board of selectmen Thursday selected an architect for a proposed renovation of the town's public schools, and residents could be voting on more than $200,000 in architect's fees at a February town meeting.

The selectmen voted unanimously to award the design duties to the Hartford firm Tai Soo Kim Partners. The firm was picked from six finalists and 16 initial applicants.

Nobody from Tai Soo Kim was at Thursday's meeting, but First Selectwoman Mary Tomolonius said the firm has designed schools across the state, from Ridgefield to Hartford. She said the firm's reference checks were outstanding.

Town and school officials want to address growing enrollment by expanding and renovating the schools. Preliminary plans call for eight new classrooms and a reconfiguration of current classroom space at Canton Intermediate School. The high school would be expanded with new science labs, a middle school wing and a media center. Also, the superintendent's office would move from the intermediate school to the town hall basement, which the police department is about to leave for a new building.

Tomolonius said Tai Soo Kim has a reputation of avoiding cookie-cutter school renovations that are indistinguishable from schools in other towns.

The selectmen will now recommend Tai Soo Kim and its proposed fees to the board of finance. The architect's fees could be as high as $230,000. The selectmen said they could whittle the cost down to $210,000. Tomolonius and Republican Bill Olson tried to get the figure below $200,000.

"I don't think you're going to get $210,000 out of the board of finance, and I'm not willing to fight for it," Olson said.

They encountered some resistance from building committee member Dick Jacques.

"I don't want to go there," Jacques said. "I'd rather go to the board and make the case. What is the difference between $210,000 and $190,000?"

In the end, the selectmen agreed to keep the figure at $210,000 and let the board of finance decide. The finance board will meet with the selectmen and school board Jan. 28. If approved, the proposal should go to voters sometime in February. The actual renovation is expected to go to a town meeting for approval sometime in the fall.